Locomotive boiler



Oct. 23, 1928. v 1,688,594

J. l.. NxcHoLsoN LocomTIvE BOILER I Filed July 14, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2A 50 These objects o others, to ether with the many advantages PatentedOct. 1 92'8.

come 1..-mcnonson, or cmcaeo, :LLLmoIsf-As'srcnon Locoxorlvn xu' comm,or emesso, :LLINoIs--A conromrron' or nnnapwman.l

' Loconrrvn norma.' i i A apn-auna ined July 14 In some locomotiveboilers having fireboxes of the combustion chamber type, the' height ofthe throat sheet is, indeed, limited andrestricted by various boilerconditions so that it is quiteshallow.- Great diiiculty` ispresented'under suchjconditions to the instalf lation of watercirculating'v elementsl in the frebox [which connect the saidthroat'sheet,-

with the crown sheet.`

It is one ofthe objects of llg. resenty invenfV tion to so construct thethroat-s ietland bot# tom wall ofthe combustion chamber, that theA inletend of-said circulatin element or -ele ments maybe operatively nnected--thereto and to the crown sheet ina manner which permits spacing ofsaid inlet endra sufficient dis'- tance above the 'atebars, 4and at thesame time provide a ont water leg, amply able to meet the 'demands ofthe' inlet endof said-J circulating element. i l A further obj ect ofthe -invention is to pro.

vide an improved construction of watercir# culatin 3o stricte inletareawhich opens into the lower t water leg at the junction of the innerlthroat. sheet and bottomv wall of the combustion chamber'and having adischarge mouth of a relatively large area which opens through the crownsheet of t-hefboiler.4 A further object of theI invention isto' imrovethe construction of the'water circulatlng element which is in the formof an .in-;

- verted substantially triangular andat body 40 connected`l at Aits baseto the crown sheet' and at its apex by a. tubular neck withthe junctionof the inner throat sheet andbottom wal] of the combustion`chamber, andto so arrange the front edge or wall of said bodythat it is inclinedupwardl andrearwardl from said ineck, thuspermi ing a certainexibilityjof these parts which eliminates buckling or otherunduestresses in the expansion or contraction` thereof undertemperaturefchanges.

the invention, asv wellas with my specification, l

A thereof will more Afully appear' as Iv proceed through the firebox ina plane indicated by the l1ne 22 of Fig. 1.A

element having:- a somewhat re area less than that ofthe firebox, andits bot- 'tom wall 9 is inclined upwardly a.x1d "rearl thereof'where itlis more gradual because of throat'sheet 5 and the bottom wallv 9'of theim. sendit-no. umu.'

Fig. l'is a. vertical longitudinal'section 66 throu hthe freboxV end ofa locomotive boiler embo ymgmy invention. f j v Fig. 2 -1s atransverse'vertical section The invention'is herein illustrated and will 4 -beherein described as-embodied in a'locomotive boilerhawingr a fire box ofthe combus- 'i t1on` chamber type but," as is'apparent, the

invention is not to be Alimited thereto as it v mayubeembodied in'locomotive ireboxes -of other types, where 1ts peculiar characteristicamake 1t advantageous to do so. v

- Referringnow detail to'the locomotive 'boiler irebox illustratedherein,the same has 70 'a fire chamber which extends from the back sheetl1-to the ,flue sheet` 2, and 'from one tothe other of the sidesheets343, with a grate 'or bottom 4.A Said grate', "as herein shown, A

extends from the back -sheet to an inner throat '75 sheet 5Iwh1eh 1svspaced rearwardly from the lue `sheet'.A The top of the irebor isformed byu-a crownsheet 6 vhich Vextends from the.

back sheet to the ilu sheetandbetween said flue sheet andthe Lugerthroat sheet is' provided a combustion c amber 7 having its to formed bythe crown sheet, its sides 8 form' by endparts or continuationsof ktheside' sheets and 4having. its bottom formed byl a transversely andupwardly 'curved bottom. wall- 9 which merges into the 'side walls ofsaid combustion chamber and. extends from the flue sheet to the innerthroatsheet.' Said combustion chamber' is of a cross sectional wardly..from the flue sheet, said inclination being more pronounced on the lon'tudinal I median line of the'boiler, than-on either side" 96 themergingl ofthe -transvers'elyycurved bottom'w'all into the curved sidewall parts'of said combustion chamber.

-At 'the junction or meeting ofthe inner combustion chamber '7, finfthelongitudinal median lane oftheboiler is provided an annular ange orfcollarz 10 arranged with lits` axial plane. extending upwardly 'andrearwardly, said annular lange being connected 10's to. said innerthroatsheet and lsaid-bottoni vwall by-an annular corrugation 11 which per-4mits =ofa expansionandc xintractiox 1,4 i 7 of said flange or collarunder temperature changes in the rebox. Spaced a suitable v distance oneach side of said annular flange is va similar 'annular ange or collar10-.10, the number of such collars and the lateral spacing thereof, ofcourse,l being dependent upon the size or width of the irebox.

In the rear sheet 1 is provided the usual fuel door opening 12 'and tothe front or flue sheet 2 are connected the usual flues 13 through whichthe products of combustionl are drawn by the exhaust nozzle (not shown)y in the manner well known. The irebox is enclosed by a top plate 14 andside plates 15-15,' the outside throat plate 16 and' back plate 17 ,twhich provides i the wrapper therefor. lSaid plates, together with thefire sheets or walls of the iireboX,

define the `several water legs of the boiler, namely, the front'leg, orthroat, 18, the side legs 19-19 and theY back water leg 20, all closedat the bottom by the usual mud ring, as

shown. .Y The inner sheets of the iirebox including the crown sheet arejoined to or stayed from the outer sheets of the iirebox by means of thestaybolts 21.

In the embodiment of the invention herein shown, it will be apparentthat the irebox contains a plurality of substantially triangu lar hollowelements 22, 23 and 24, respectively which conduct water vfrom the-frontleg 18 ofthe boiler to the space'above the crown sheet 6. Three ofsuchelements are shown l herein, but this number of elements is to be Eachwater circulating element, preferably` includes an upwardly andrearwardly. 'in- A- clined tubular neck or bottom 25` and' a pro- 26.The lower part ofl the -bottomlportion `is a closed tube and constitutesthe neck or inlet portion 27 of the element which is in open andunobstructed communication with the water space or leg18 below theiiues13.'

As shownherein, the extreme end of said neck portion is/seatedwithirrone of the flanges 10-'-10. and is preferably welded thereto.vThe portions 25 and 26 merge into long slot-like passageways 28(seeFig. 2)

fwhlch rev 'ster with openings in the crown sheet Vto l. aveunobstructed communication` with the boiler s ace above .the .crownsheet. The water may ow and rise freely from the' bottom of the boiler,which includes the leg -gressively upwardly enlarging body portion 18,into the water circulating element where itis rapidly heated and risestherein to be discharged,y above the crown sheet.

The circulating element thus far described is substantially the same inconstruction and operation as that shown in and termed a thermic Siphonin Patent #1,337,720, to John L. Nicholson issued on April 20, 1920. Asdescribed in said patent, the circulating element is made of a singlepiece of sheet' metal folded upon itself to providethe neck 27 as wellas the flared body portion 26 which has an outwardly extending 'flange29 lat its top.- Said lian e is preferably welded to the crown sheet aout the elongated openings therein which registers with the space 28,before referred to. Said space is defined by 'parallel side walls 30-30which are joined together at their forward ends to provide a rounded endwall 31. This rounded end wall is inclined upwardly and rearwardly fromthe vertical plane of the point of its connection with the neck 27. Saidinclination of said end wall is important because it permits of moreflexibility of the siphonic` element undeiT temperature changes so thatitreadily accommodates itself'to contraction and eX-v pansionwwithoutbuckling, splitting or cracking which, of course, would beindeed'serious. Internal strains ork stresses in said elements are ablyIresisted rby connecting or staying the side walls of saidA elementstogether byl means of the stay bolts 32.

Under operating conditions induced by a' fire in the firebox, a vigorousflow of water from the lower art of the boiler and upward through thefireEox is rovided with a copious rapid and widely water and steam intothe space above and on top of the crown sheet of the boiler.

vMy improved construction has many advantages. The inlet end of thethermic siphonic element is connected to the innerA throat sheet withoutplacing it soy low as to engage the fire bed on the grate bars which,ofcourse, would be objectlonablein that it would interfere with thecombustion and might kcause burning out of said element at the inlet endthereof. Furthermore the front water leg capacity is increased withoutmaterial change in the boiler shell orin the bottom wall of thecombustion chamber so that the lsupply of water for the inlet end of thecir# culating elements is always adequate. I

- The advantages of the above mentioned construction are, no doubt,apparent to those skilled in the art. In describing the invention, Ihave referred to certain details of construction, as well asf'orm andarrangement of parts, but itis to be understood that I do not wish to belimited theretoexcept 'as may be pointed out in the appended claims.

I claim:

with one or-more-hollow substantially verstributed delivery of' 1. Allocomotive rebox, in combinationtical and trian lar water circulatingelements therein, t e top of each element open-l ing through the crownsheet into the space above the same, each element having an intakethroat at its lower end through whichcommunication is established withthe bottom of the boiler, said element including a front wall which isinclined upwardl and rearwardly from the connection of said wall withthe intake throat.

2. A locomotive irebox` having a combustion chamber at its forward endand a throat at the-rear end of said combustion chamber, in combinationwith one or more substantially vertical and triangular water circulatingelements therein, the top of each element opening through the crownsheet into the space above the same, each element having an intake neckat its lower end which is connected to said throat, said elementincluding a front wall whichis inclined upwardly and rearwardly :fromthe vvertical plane of the connection of said front wall with said neck.

3. A locomotive rebox comprising a rear fire bed chamber and a frontcombustion chamber, the bottom wall of which is inclined upwardly andrearwardly to meet the throat sheet at the forward end of said fire bedchamber, means providing a plurality of laterally spaced annular flangesat the meeting arts of said bottom wall and throat sheet, la p uralityof hollow substantially vertical and triangular water circulatingelements each having a tubular neck portion at its lower end operativelyconnected to one of said anges, the other or top ends of saidcirculating elements being elongated in the longitudinal vplane of therebox and o ening through the crown sheet to provi e a water circulationbetween the bottom and top parts of the boiler.

4. A locomotive irebox comprising a rear lire bed chamber and a frontcombustion chamber, the bottom wall of which is'inclined upwardlyT andrearwardly to meet the throat sheet at the forward end of said fire bedchamber, means providing a plurality of laterally A spaced annularflanges at the meeting parts of said bottom Wall and throat sheet, aplurality of hollow substantially Vertical and triangular watercirculating elements each having a tubular neck portion at its lower endoperatively connected to one of said flanges, the other or top ends ofsaid circulating elements being elongated in the longitudinal plane ofthe irebox and openin through the crown sheet to provide a watercirculation between the bottom and top parts of the boiler, saidelementsV each including a front wall which is inclined upwardly andrearwardly from the vertical plane of the connection of said wall withsaid tubular/neck portion.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand,this 8th day of July,1924.

JOHN L. NICHOLSON. y

